Speaking and Presenting At Podcamp Philly

We've been getting some questions through email about presenting at Podcamp Philly, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to outline them here on the website for everyone.

1.  If you would like to present at Podcamp Philly, you need to make sure you are registered as a speaker through Eventbrite.  Simply choose a "speaker" ticket when you register.  If you have already registered as an attendee and decide you want to speak, just send me an email at podcampp@gmail.com, and I can alter your ticket type accordingly.

Please DO NOT forget to fill out the speaker information form.  There's a link to it from the Eventbrite main page, but you can also get to it by clicking here.  We will use this information to help publicize Podcamp/SearchCamp, and put the information in the Podcamp?SearchCamp Philly Guide, so people can plan their day and make sure not to miss your presentation.

2.  What Should I Present On?

Chris Brogan wrote a post about Session We Want To Attend- if you want to speak and are stuck for topics, you can check out that blog post here.  In general, the subjects should be about new media, and we'd like to keep away from pure business pitches.  Remember that the Law of Two feet applies to Podcamp and Search Camp, so if your presentation comes off like an infomercial, it is likely that people will get up and leave.  This doesn't mean you can't talk about your business or company, but it should be in context.  Here's an example of something that would fine:

"There has been an explosion of educational blogs and websites out there in recent months.  Since I started my blog on learning disabilities two years ago, I've seen a huge increase in traffic, and now the LD Podcast  (www.ldpodcast.com) is no longer the only show about learning disabilities available.  In fact, while my show was initially aimed at parents, I am surprised how manye emails I get from teachers dealing with kids with LD in the classroom."

This certainly gets all the information about my podcast and website out there for those that are interested, but it's not a sales pitch, either.

Presentations work best when they are something that you care about, so we suggest presenting on things you are passionate about, as the enthusiasm you bring will be infectious to your audience as well. 

Feel free to also propose "reverse presentations" such as "Teach me all about Final Cut Pro", where you invite the crowd to come, help you and teach others interested in the topic at the same time.  If you don't want to sign up as a speaker, but want to see a presentation in this vein, you can always email us and we'll try to find someone to fill this need.

3. Do I need to use slides?  No.

While every room will have a hookup so you can use slides with powerpoint or keynote on your computer, there are also whiteboards- but you are not obligated to use any "props" to make this happen.  There will also be several rooms available with Apple and PC computers, so you can plan an interactive presentation where your "students" can look at the websites you are discussing interactively.  Just specify on the speakers form that you want to use these rooms, and we'll slate you in accordingly.

We've all sat through presentations that could be described as "Death by Powerpoint".  Remember that the human brain only has one language processing loop, and if your slides are too wordy, people will be reading your slides and not listening to what you say.   Because this is Podcamp, we also would like you to encourage questions, and suggest for every 45 minute spot, you anticipate your presentation as being no longer than 30 minutes, leaving 15 minutes for questions and discussion.

(Note to Mac users- bring your adapters!)

Let me know of any other questions or what we should add here, either by dropping a comment or an email to whitney@podcampphilly.com